Omar Adel is an artist, researcher, and knowledge enthusiast who is in a constant state of morphing. Their practice is rooted in a subjective reading of their lived realities, understanding moments of manifestation as iterative attempts rather than definitive resolutions. Through these attempts, they explore the interplay between technology, constructed environments, and human cognition.
Drawn to scenography and site-specific interventions, Omar works across sound design, digital imagery, writing, and performance, sometimes independently, often in combination. Their projects investigate the realms of the human psyche in cyberspace, the dichotomy of hope and defeat in political imaginaries, the nature/culture divide, and structures of hegemony. And their research is currently focusing on the geo-specific understanding of the "End of Time" as a driving notion for sociopolitical mutations.
Omar holds an MA in Arts in Public Spheres from École de design et haute école d’art du Valais - édhéa (CH), a BA in Management Information Systems (EG), and was a fellow artist at the Ashkal Alwan Home Workspace Program (LB). Their work was presented in Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella; Ars Electronica, Linz; CYENS Centre of Excellence, Nicosia; Brücke-Museum, Berlin; and Museum Kesselhaus Herzberge, Berlin.
They were the co-founder and creative director of Tara al Bahr, an online platform and a non-periodical publication that deals with cultural and artistic practices and contemporary urban changes in Alexandria. And the creative director of Behna (el wekalah), a hybrid art space for traditional and unconventional cinema, contemporary art practice, and alternative education in Alexandria.
The fundamental reality of myself is not something under my skin, but rather everything outside of it. Thus, in the act of describing it, I can only think of the multitude of possibilities, environments, and contexts within which I happen to exist.
My artistic practice draws its basis from a subjective point of view of my realities, where I see its manifestation moments as a series of attempts rather than moments of resolution. These attempts often examine the entanglement of technology, constructed environments, and human cognition.
Thus far, within these 3 paradigms of understanding, my projects have delved into the domains of the human psyche in cyberspace, the dichotomy of hope and defeat in political imaginaries, the nature/culture divide, and hegemony. Currently, I'm focusing on exploring the geo-specific understanding of the End of Time as a driving notion for sociopolitical mutations.
My projects usually start with research questions that stem from a geo-specific observation followed by a process of inquiry that combines a theoretical investigation with practical experimentation. From there, the choice of the media emerges. The body of works I have so far spans moving images, sound art, writing, and an increasing presence of audio-visual and lecture performances.
I usually combine more than one media in an installation or a performative form, and the devices used in my work are treated as objects in a sculptural constellation or as integral elements in set design.
Within each of my works, I attempt to transmit one more piece of myself and my context. I attempt to provoke questions rather than generate answers, reflect the state of doubt rather than polish constructed certainty, and evoke an ambiguous interplay between the work and the spectators to activate certain modes of perception.
